Enrig Morten Dalder (pronounced /'en.ɾiʝ 'moɾ.tən 'dɒːl.deɾ/) was the first and longest-serving president of Vyvland, holding the office from 1986 to 1996. Before this, he was the Finance Minister of North Vyvland and then unified Vyvland, whose creation he was involved in negotiating from 1982 to 1983. Dalder is credited as one of the key architects of the social, political and legal reforms taking place in the late 1980s in Vyvland.

Dalder's presidency was characterised by an opening up to the wider world, with relations between Vyvland and other Esquarian states normalised, and new trade links formed. His long presidency also helped maintain political stability in a time of fractious and unstable governments, in addition to securing a place for his Liberal Party as a major national political force to this day.

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Early life

Dalder was born in Brockeln, in the polders of Welland province, then in South Vyvland. His mother, Ilia, was of Luziycan extraction, and passed her religion of Lutheran Catholicism onto Enrig, which he later dropped amid allegations in the 1970s that he was a Luziycan spy.

His parents, Ilia and Burfolemiy, were labourers who were becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the then-new nationalist Southern government at the end of the Vyvlander Civil War. As a result, they had planned to flee to the North for some time, and when Enrig was just seven months old, the family crossed the border off the east coast, landing south of Vlaardingen. As refugees, the Dalders were housed in Mafiy, where Enrig attended Brukel Ynfsgol and Rumpersklev Tyfsgol, where he discovered a love for maths and humanities, leading him to admission to the Sarumian University in Vlud to study economics.

Political career

Dalder was first elected to Parliament in 1985, representing Mafiy-4, then an inner northern area of the city. He initially represented the Social Liberal Party, although was in its liberal wing. Dalder's first entry into government came in 1972, when he was appointed Finance Minister due to his background in economics. He served as the Minister until the Social Liberals were defeated in 1976, then serving as new Christian Democrat Finance Minister Welelm Iyng's shadow, before being appointed again on the Social Liberals' next election win in 1980.

After Southern leader Erman Sanker's death in 1980, Dalder became a proponent of Vyvlander reunification, which was achieved in 1983. He then contributed significantly to the Social Liberal Party's election victory in 1984, and as Finance Minister under Abram Zymeker's premiership laid out the first budget to contain Vyvland's current welfare system (in 1985).

Upon the de-merger of the Social Liberal Party in early 1986, Dalder won the new Liberal nomination for the newly-created presidency, and won the election, beating the Nationalists' Piter Wesgurd in the second round by 72% to 37%. He then presided over even greater reforms under the Socialist-Liberal coalition from 1986 to 1989, liberalising homosexuality law and introducing a universal healthcare system, during Zymeker's second term. In 1988, Dalder was heavily involved in securing the bid for the 1992 Winter Olympics in Wel.

Dalder was re-elected in 1990, this time beating Conservative opponent Edvurd Skint in the second round. During his second term, Dalder concentrated more on foreign policy, sorting out many of the inconsistencies between the North and South and entering into friendly relations with previously-unfavoured countries such as Namor. Dalder's third election in 1994 was the only in Vyvlander history when a candidate achieved a majority in the first round, thus voiding the need for a second round.

Towards the end of his time in office, Dalder was forced to deal with the Third Namo-Luziycan War, carefully remaining neutral throughout the war's buildup and first stages. However, the Namorese bombing of Syfmion, a Luziycan military base on Vyvlander soil, thrust Vyvland into the conflict. Dalder condemned the bombings and insisted Namor refrain from attacks on Vyvland, although was quieter during the bombing's last week due to his ill health. Dalder was often condemned for his "soft" stance on Namor when many others in Vyvlander politics were calling for direct Vyvlander military action, although in a speech outside the National Palace, he fiercely condemned the bombings, arguing that "Namor should be more careful to avoid the idiocy it is showing through these criminal strikes". Dalder refused to confirm or deny if he considered the strikes to be war crimes.

Dalder had announced that he would resign the office in June 2012, although the airstrikes caused him to postpone this resignation until August. The Conservative Party's Erik Menjreng won the ensuing presidential election following a hardening of attitudes towards the more pro-Namor Vyvlander left immediately after the bombings.

Political views

Dalder is a social liberal, who in his early years advocated free speech and anti-corruption legislation and, controversially, the dissolution of the monarchy from North Vyvland. Thus, he was strongly opposed by the Christian Democratic Party in the North. However, he was also an advocate of lelsdadnes, the traditional attitudes and way of living of Vyvlander communities.

After reunification, Dalder's main aim was to set up a Nordic modelwelfare state in Vyvland, emphasising the need for a more open political system and greater civil rights in addition to his calls for a greater social safety net. He is also strongly pacifist, and favoured partial demilitarisation of Vyvland; this idea has been mothballed since the Third Namo-Luziycan War. He viewed Namor and especially Geadland as strategic allies, and emphasised co-operation with these nations. However, his views on Luziyca were more mixed; although his family connection inclined him to view the country in a positive light, his strong opposition to the East Luziycan-backed Southern regime made him wary of the country's influence and presence. Speeches after the bombing of Syfmion showed a clear hardening of Dalder's attitude towards Namor, in line with the mood of most Vyvlanders at the time.